STRASBOURG. June 26 (Interfax) - Ongoing negotiations with Russia aim to achieve peace in Ukraine but full-fledged normalization is off the table because of the Crimean situation, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said.
"It is impossible to normalize our relations without the return of Crimea. But we are people of peace. Therefore, the Ukrainian authorities and I, the president, have put forward a peace plan," Poroshenko said at a Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) session in Strasbourg on Thursday.
He said Russian President Vladimir Putin supported his peace plan after the telephone conversations he had with Putin, French President Francois Hollande and German Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday.
Kyiv expects the plan to be supported by deeds rather than words, Poroshenko said. "And we are expecting such actions. Strengthening border protection, put an end to the illegal movement of hardware, stop the recruitment of mercenaries, finally, pull back the troops," the Ukrainian president urged the Russian authorities.